Mark Leibovich

Incompetent leadership is the biggest long-term threat to the NFL

I think ultimately the incompetence of the people who run it is going to wear it down because there is no long-term thinking among any of these owners... So I think that the crisis of leadership is the biggest long-term threat to the league, perhaps.

Roger Goodell stays in power by ensuring there are no strong successors

Part of the savviness of Roger Goodell is that if you want to stay in power a long time, don't hire strong number twos and threes that can replace you. And he has never hired or groomed, let alone even identified a successor.